hyperv6

No you are just overly sensitive about Chrysler. Like any other brand you have to take the bad and the good. I like GM but I can give you a laundry list of issues they have too. This is a very old car a very over weight car and one that should have been replace long ago. Yet they are saddled with it not due to Chrysler but mismanagement by Fiat and Sergio. It is clear as day and I can not see how you can not be even more upset about this than a GM fan. To continue to defend and make excesses is just a means to an end of the brand if they do not get it together soon. Same on the 300 Chrysler had a really good thing going that even Lincoln would envy. Now they are saddled with a old sedan that is discounted to the point it is priced with a Malibu and Fusion. Good for the buyer bad for Chrysler that could be getting top ATP for a car like this. Now there is talk that the 300 will go away if there is a LX replacement. This is just bad management by FCA and I really wish Fiat has not bought Chrysler now. I really do fear for their future out side Ram and Jeep. The first sign of danger to the cars was years ago when they removed the Dodge name from the Trucks. How better to kill the cars or sell off the trucks at some point. Do you not think they should have replaced the LX by now with a modern platform and a new updated V8 and V6? How long should they wait? Should they not have let Chrysler have the funds to do a entire line of cars and small cross overs to give Fiat the Volume they dearly need vs putting money into Alfa and Maserati? If they had treated Chrysler as they have Jeep Fiats issues would be much less. Where am I wrong for pointing out a better funded Chrysler being put in the lead of the corporation would be the best move? The sad part was for some unknown reason he put a pig hood ornament on it with wings. He no longer works there and we never got why he put it on the car as it was great looking car outside the hood ornament. It must have been a good idea under the influence?

Generally people put them away here in the snow belt not because of the RWD but because they have them fixed up and just don't want them in the salt. Many people who live where there is little snow fail to understand we have driven RWD cars for over 100 years in the snow and they get by fine. Good tires and a limited slip dif will get you anywhere. I even see Vette out year round with the right tires. Hell I have one guy here at work with a motorcycle that will ride it year round even in a foot of snow. It is a Russian Army bike with a side car and the side car has a drive wheel. Today they are calling for up to 16" just north of me here and by Sunday we may have 7" here and more if the wind comes from the north more. Welcome to the Ohio snow belt. I get around mostly on side and back roads to avoid the people who can't drive or the ones with bald tires. Yes too many drive with bald tires and that is why they can't get around. True!

I would venture to say the reason for the V6 only is because that is all this system can handle. Nothing more and nothing less. I am sure the engineers would have liked to offered more and may in the future but the money may just not be there for them to do more. GM in the pre bailout years did some odd things dictated by budgets and available hardware. The truth is the Hell Cat needed this more than any model as it can not put down the power it has now. They are going to a wide body edition. In other words flairs with larger stickier tires. That tells me they just did not get the funding they needed to do it and do it right. This was way I pointed out it has to be thought to be an engineer at Chrysler right now as you are forced into an AWD V6 while they try to market a BMW fighting Alfa that is doomed from the start. FCA lets the all pro models sit on the bench while they over play and over pay on the second string they put into the game. I am watching Buick as I could see an AWD coupe ending up there at some point. the problem is with such a weak coupe market right now it may get pushed back. I wonder how much weight this added to the car? It would be nice if they could Supercharged this engine. I had a co worker that did that to his V6 and it ran pretty well. Not real cost effective over just ordering a V8 but if you wanted something different.

Well the auto industry here really was in a way lucky they all failed leading up to where we are now. Ford< GM and Chrysler were on a death spiral. Ford leveraged the plants and got the loans that they are paying off. GM got the bail out and more importantly the debts removed. Chrysler got bailed out but tossed back into the fire with Fiat. Ford and GM both now more freed up are able to do the things they needed to do for a long time and not a minute too soon with the high cost of development eating many companies alive. The key to the EV movement is to make a car that can Make Money for the company and that can provide transportation equal to what we have now and not require a life style change. Right now the EV is not profitable and as for the cars you have to change the way you drive and live around range and charge times right now. Once both of these change they will be accepted very much wide spread as the prices come down. But with limits on range, high prices, and longer charging times than it takes to fill a tank of gas the acceptance will be challenged. The EV at this point is just not a car for everyone and one that if it is your only car everyone could live with. Even where you live can effect how this fits your life. In time these will be resolved but it will take continued time and investment. Much of this hinges on better batteries and with all the battery operated items we have today a lot is going into them and not in the car industry. The other wild card is higher voltage systems that will even be in ICE cars will require different batteries. VW has made it know they are moving to a 48 volt system as with the new cars and power demands they see it will be needed. There is a good chance we will see engines with more electrical things like Turbochargers and even possibly electric operated valves. Add this to the bigger computers and DI injection there is going to be a lot of voltage needed. So in the future use care working on the car. LOL!

One thing that has to be condiered here is the types of batteries and how they are used. Even in the case of a Cell Phone performace varys from phone to phone and then add in the factor on how people use them. Do they drain them down flat and recharge often or do they recharge them all night. What size they are. What kind of power loads and how long to they last. The problem is it is as difficult to compare batteries as it is a Spark to a Corvette. While they are all batteries they are all not equal in use, size, quality and charging. There is a standard for each unit but each unit is different and comparing is difficult. Add to this that each year we see more improvement so a vehicle 2 years newer can even see some improvement. . Like even gas cars some people can see fuel pumps last a quarter million miles because they kept the fuel tank filled much of the time but others put in only $5-$10 at a time and the pump over heats as it is never cooled in fuel and fails before 100K miles. Just many variables. But it is clear many batteries do fail sooner if charges fast. That is why some cars recommend not doing it unless you have to as it could affect the life. I still thing the problem with used Electric cars will be the pace of the advancment of the new models as they will make the old one as desirable as a Apple I3 Phone today. Leasing these cars may be a good idea if you want to keep up with advancements like many do on the Apple phone program that gives you the option to trade up yearly or pay it off and keep it in two years. This covers both trains of thought. Lets face it if you have a car that will go 200 miles and you are just getting by one that is gets 300 miles a year later would have a great attraction. Then for the lease turn in's the automaker could sell them back to the public a year later at cheaper prices to get more people into them.

Guys there are two reasons companies build clean cars. #1 Regulations pure and simple. #2 Public Relations and image. Companies want to look clean to the Green Buyers as their money is as green as anyone else. None are doing it just to be good guys as there is no profit in that especially when development of these systems are really affecting the bottom line. I am glad you laughed as it was a joke unless you drive a Fiat, Lada or Yugo It is well know batteries degrade as anyone with a cell phone or lap top know this. If you have ever played with RC cars you know fast charges kill battery life even faster. The same applies here. As I have stated before the EV market may be much like the Smart Phone market where there is little use for a used model. Technology will move faster making these car less appealing as in 5 years the new one will go 40-50 miles more and who wants to buy an old car that needs an expensive battery? Or you need to live close to work to make it worth while.

It is called loss of compression.

The media reported a while back that it was 2018 and then later it was pushed to 2021 Do a search on Autoblog or any of the other sites that reported it. It was well reported. The cars platform was based on the Benz platform and that is part of the weight issue. The car just as a Chrysler is two generations older than Ford and Chevy. For Chrysler to survive as a automaker they will need to have smaller cars be it of their own or with a partner. The market watchers have pointed that out clearly. Selling smaller cars to meet regulation in fuel economy is a must. They for sure are not doing it with Fiat as it is. Second the only small efficient crossovers they have are at Jeep. Ram is in need of a new truck soon too as Ford is ahead a gen and Chevy will have a new one in about a year and a half. It is a very competitive market. For someone who like Chrysler you appear much in denial and it is to their detriment. I am not a Chrysler fan but I for sure do not want to lose another American brand as we have lost too many. It was also made clear that there has been some consideration that they may kill the V8 also. Not sure how serious that is but Ford is nearly there now so it is a possibility. The real shame is they have some very talented engineers there as we have seen what they have done with the old outdated products. Imagine what they could do with a clean sheet of paper. If I were Sergio I would take all that wasted Alfa money and pump it into Chrysler and tell them to do what they do best. Where is this wrong. To defend what is going on is Nuts. In fact if this were GM I would as a GM fan be so very pissed off as I have been in the past when they have failed to do what was right. Even their trucks and SUV models need more work soon as they are getting old and not market leading. Not bad but not the best in segment other than the mini van that is dying like the Coupe. Let put it this way the LX is selling at low prices and high discounts. This is a segment where they could be making a good ATP on a modest amount of models but the powers to be in Italy don't care. The sooner you get rid of Sergio the better chance they have to pull it out. The real question is who will partner with Chrysler or who will buy Jeep and Ram from them when they fail. Fiat is hemorrhaging more money than Jeep and Ram can support.

Here is another example of where they need to put the money into making a new car on a new platform. This is an old over weight Chrysler based on an Older over weight Benz E class from around the early 1990's. It has gotten to the point that even the media does not even use this car in comparisons with the Mustang and Camaro. Now they are pushing this back to 2021 so I get the feeling we may be seeing the last of the cars from Chrysler. Sergio has raped and pillaged Chrysler Jeep to the point that they receive little in return. Yet they have a new Alfa that will under perform in sales and never really be a challenger to the Germans outside being a car for those who want something different and like to spend time a the dealer waiting rooms. I really wonder how long the Dodge engineers will hang around as they try so hard but get so little support.

The reality is there is not one single auto executive that would not be upset if there were roll backs of Emissions and or CAFE. Now they will not splash this in the PC press as risk being made a victim of attacks by many who would be upset with this but that is just the way it is and they would sleep better with any advantage they would have to make more money and sell cars at a lower price while keeping development cost down.

You really believe this. Look around and see many cars people no longer want because they are not what they want. Trucks and Crossovers are selling because they are not what cars have become due to regulations. Regulations will kill the manual shift. Regulations have pretty much killed the V8 as the number one engine and left most cars with 4 cylinders. Regulations have killed most RWD cars. Regulations have driven up development cost so high that automakers fear in the future many people will not be able to afford cars so they are looking to serve ride sharing. It is not that government is trying to put them out but they are showing no regard for their financial futures by slapping on regulations with little consideration of the cost involved to meet these challenges. This is what happens when you have one side working on laws with no idea of what the other side faces. I could continue. A weak company can fail. Just watch at FCA as their small cars failed and there is a good chance Chrysler cars could just fade away all together. FCA is one crash of the Euro market away from failing there. As for the Bolt lets see your photo of you in the back seat. You did get one when you saw and sat in one? We also would like to hear about your encounter with the same vehicle. You have at the very lease seen one in person? Oh?

Government regulations are like Chemo. A little bit In good balance will cure you and too much will for sure kill you. Regulations in all areas need to be done in moderation and never to the extreme. When you start to get to the point you are raising costs or killing jobs you need to moderate till the body or population can convert to the new ways. The problem many who push the full cold turkey approach often are so far out there or too often it is someone that is lobbying government because they are making money from government funding for programs that often fail or are turning green into an industry with real no interest in the end results other than the money they collect.

It is not right and that is why it is a very good thing how Trump brought someone like Mary in on an advisory roll. Granted it may or may not change things but at least the Automakers will have a voice. Here is the problem and the Obama EPA has really brought it to light in the last two years. Agencies like the EPA are appointed people that often have an agenda or in other cases just a pay back for political support and really have no clue. The present EPA is made up of academics and people with green agenda and have no love for business and for how things are done. Case in point he recent changing of how even off road use race cars would be required to keep the emissions in place even a quarter mile at a time on a car never driven on the road. This change would damage the performance aftermarket and the racing industry leaving more economic damage and have so little affect on the environment. The problem here is the appointed people are pushing their agenda and reinterpreting the law to fit their needs and bypassing congress and the senate. Not only is that wrong it is illegal. Their claim is it was the original intent. Even many Democrats disagree here even with these people. I know as I had The same Rep Tim Ryan who just challenged Nancy Pelosi for minority house leader at my desk here to give us his support for the RPM act that SEMA is working on. Now with that said for this to work and to do the least damage to business and the environment they need to work closer together and work to minimize the damage all the way around. They really need to take this and yearly look at how things are going and how advancements are coming a long with investments. This way adjustments can be made on where we are at. This is a game both sides need to play with the cards faced up so both sides win. If this continues as it does it will make these cars even more expensive to develop. It will force automaker into selling cars people do not want as they will not be large enough or developed enough as not to change their life styles. The higher development cost will at some point have to be passed on and that will make car that are already too much. The real poison pill is the damage that will befall the truck segment that has been holding all this together. The Half ton trucks are going to take a major hit in 2025. This is why the mid size is coming and there is no V8 option. To get a full size at some point I suspect you may have to move to a 3/4 ton or a light 3/4 rated truck at a higher price yet. Same for V8 options they will increase in cost. I am hoping Trump as a business man will see this and try to get his people to work with and not against the auto industry as a good business man would do and not necessary toss everything out but make it a more workable situation to where progress is made for both sides as neither would be punished. This deal where you have token elected officials that do not even drive themselves or have even bought a car recently making laws that have no clue about cars let alone the auto industry. This has been a problem for so long with government and forcing things is a costly way of doing business. DC should only learn by what happened in the 70's when they force many regulations and so little time to implement them. It took the car companies about 10 years to get thing to where they got better after 1975. Same even on the bumper laws. Note too we also must understand too that many eviromental people have good intentions. But also many have turned this into a industry and a way to make big money off of this and are not always concerned about the economic damage they are doing to others. They see it as winners and loser and they don't want to lose.

This segment is not yet to a point that it is going to be a profitable one unless you charge a lot of money like on an Tesla S model even then they are struggling to show a profit or gain money to develop the 3 model. The whole exercise here is to develop systems, nurture a segments to the point it is worth the cost of investment by vendors to make systems for these models. It is the old Chicken and Egg deal. The vendors are not strong or large enough in most cases to fund this at a loss but larger companies still funded by ICE can better absorbed the loss to work to make better systems and cheaper parts for affordable cars in the future. We must look at this as an investment. Like the first Volt it was a money loser but the new one is cheaper and more of a break even car. It also is selling in greater numbers. Now the next Volt will move to the profit column. Also as more cars used these parts and it is spread around it will make more and more cheaper. It is kind of like in racing. Developing the first race car is the major cost the second and third are so much cheaper as you go. this is why so many teams are more than one car. The media will jump all over this but never really put it into context as they have always been anti corporate and often anti GM. EV is a slow growth segment and as we go things will get faster and cheaper. It is just growing pains in a segment that has had to grow with help.

Here is the deal. You can force higher refs but it will come at a high cost. Note no one is really making money on the new EV cars and they may not for g good deal longer. Also you raise taxes you just make people mad and you slow the economy and fail to get elected. The real deal is to get government and the automakers to work together. This was why I was glad Mary was asked to be an advisor. This is a two way street wher it is in the best interest of all parties to work together for the good of the country. The regulations should be brought up for review every so many years. This way it can be adjusted to real expectations and not destroy the automakers and still let people able to afford cars and own cars they really want to buy not forced to buy.

I have sat with co workers that own $25K or more on credit cards and no way to pay it off. Some have school debts on degrees they can not get a job to pay for it. One woman went to Mount Union for an Art Degree. Today she works as a translator and makes good money but not enough to pay off her school debts since it was a very expensive school. People in general are poor at saving money and are poor on living in their means. I see it happen every summer many can work a ton of Overtime. In place of saving it they spend it and when the Overtime dries they find it hard to live as they expanded their living to a level from their normal income. Now keep in mind these are well paid jobs and employees. Now you take this to the people who are not making the money and they still have to have the new I Phone 7 and 70" TV. Yet they do not own a home and have a car with 150K miles on it and 3.7 kids. Too often in life you have one shot to get ahead and if you squander it you will never get it back. One political party is pushing to the people to let us help and we can write off your school debts and let us raise the min wage but yet people are no better off and the cost of everything just goes up so the new income levels are still not enough. You can give free collage but you will pay more tax. You can raise min wage but you will pay more for all you use in life. We need to focus on teaching people how to be responsible with their money and work to teach them you do not need to go to Yale to make Six Figures. Today the skill trades have too few people and there is a ton of money to be made if you work on these skills. My Father in-law is one of the best welders you can find. he is retired and living well. He made 6 figures a year welding as the company could not find anyone who could do what he did. He also has been called many times since retirement to so special jobs for them as they can not replace him. Life is what you make of it. You need to pursue opportunity and if you fail you never give up. I was blessed with parents that taught me how to be fiscally responsible and how to invest. I wish I had done more but I have done well. Credit is just too easy to get and people are so weak to take it. While some want to blame business the fact is no one held a gun on these folks when they signed the papers. Bad deals are all around. Rent to own is one of the worst but no one is holding a gun on these people and a little simple math would tell them it is a bad deal.

Lets face it they could spend the money flying a XT5 to a fashion show in NYC or they could race a car and leverage it to get global attention. Later they could use it to promote their new engines when it arrives. Hmm tough choice there LOL!.

The present EPA staff has been an activist staff. They have pushed a very green agenda with no regard to cost to the MFG and or the consumer. Their moved have even been un constitutional at times. The Clean Air Act was written to exempt cars built with emission controls so they could be removed if they were used for off road use as in grassroots racing. The present EPA had taken it upon them selves to reinterpreted the law passed by the Senate and House to day it really meant to cover the off road use too. This means if you own a 2005 Camaro and you only drag race it you would not be permitted to put in a Big Block engine and you would be required to run full emissions on the car even if it never turned a wheel more than a quarter mile or a lap at a time. The RPM act is still floating out there and SEMA is working to make sure it gets passed to prevent appointed government agencies like the EPA from changing laws that were passed by a constitutional body. Look for more games like this from the outgoing progressive appointed agencies. They know much of their work will be over turned and they will try to do anything to delay that. This has been why so many are upset with the election results as with the loss of the house, senate and oval office they will lose much of what they have done in many areas and to the point they may not be able to undo much if and when they should get back into office. A lot of people were watching the moves Obama did with his presidential decrees but the appointed agencies were all busy out of sight and mind changing the laws from how they were intended to suit their own needs. We at this point do not know all the damage done yet. Laws like these need to be passed buy the voting body not some appointed bureaucrat. No matter what side you are on you should never over step the constitution as it could be used against you too at some point. The EPA has backed off but SEMA does not trust them and is still working to pass the RPM act. If you enjoy motorsports or actively participate you need to be aware of this. Even Tim Ryan the Democrat from Ohio was against what the EPA was trying to do. He even dropped to my cubical one day at work. Too bad he did not displace Pelos. The staff at the EPA is dirty and need to be watch till they are replaced.

Well here is what I see going on here. JDN is playing the Audi card here getting into prototype racing. Audi entered prototypes here and in Europe to promote their Diesel engines. With that said I expect GM will enter IMSA with this car from Dallara a proven chassis builder and compete using the bullet proof Chevy engine while they sort out the car. They then will move to use a Cadillac based engine to promote their new engines once they arrive in about 2-3 years. to do a Chassis and engine would prove to be a disaster as it was the first time they tried this with the LMP. Cadillac jumped in the last time way over their head. They had a new chassis and used the N star engine and both proved to be a problem. They never really sorted this out. Now this car will be able to not only run Daytona and Sebring but also Lemans. This should prove to be a good combination that they could not do before with the Daytona prototype cars. Chevy is already well established with the GTLM program and they will embark on new C8 Mid Engine in about a year and a half. Being based on a stock platform for the Corvette is very important. Not so much at Cadillac. Making the prototype for Chevy would really have little added value. F1 is such a mess now and has been for a while. Cost are off the charts and to get results is even more difficult unless you have been at it for a while. GM really has little need or use for F1. As for now F1 needs to get their house in order. Might note two things. The car from the side resembles the Audi prototypes. The nose and tail hints as a little of the styling of the headlamps and tail lamps we may see in the future Cadillac products. But if Cadillac joins IMSA with this prototype it will be a way to promote the brand globally. Also I see a future with their own powertrains and possibly a hybrid system much like Porsche uses today. They just need to avoid doing this as the past LMP car as while it was neat they were way in over their heads on that deal. That would have been a major challenge even to the most established teams from Germany. If you look at many of the Porsche and Audi programs they take proven cars or engines and advance them not blow them up and starting over. The early 917 begat the later 917, Also what they learned carried over to the 936 and 962. Even what they learned there has been applied to the cars they race today. Cadillac is smart to go to Dallara and use the Chevy engine that has a proven record. Once the car is a winner then drop in the new Cadillac engine when ready.

The transition was not as it is today to very small cars. Also the Mini Van was starting on the decline and gas prices going up generated interest in smaller SUV models. There were more then one factor. Truck sales were still far and away the runaway market that kept GM and Ford afloat at that time just as they do today. Trucks then were offered in high end items like power windows, climate control and other details if you wanted them and many were sold. Finding a standard cab base truck was just as difficult to find then as now. The second attempt for Lincoln was a few years ago and it failed just as bad yet the King Ranch thrived as did the Denali. Yes I note the Ridgeline did under perform as they did not get it right the first time. The Second one is much improved but the Jury is still out on a unibody truck. It is unproven. Date needs to be specific. truck sales are on the decline in a market that is slowing down. You do realize the entire market is bracing for a slow down. This is why GM has worked hard to get the ATP up and lose fleet sales as this will keep them profitable even with lower volume of sales. As for being specific GMC Sales and Denali sales are down as most other truck models. SUV sales have been up but most cars are also down. It is a market where growth is slowing and the automakers are preparing and not willing to make many risky moves. Show me major growth in Denali, High Country, and King Ranch sales. Based on the reports I have seen the last few months they have been down and are expected to remain flat. As for your opinion it is just that opinion. You can call them stupid but they have the numbers and facts to back up their choice. If you know more than them you should present it. Gunning from the hip does not work well in business. Collecting numbers and making projections are how these decisions are made. Seldom does it happen where they just say lets just build it. When you have to account for Billions if things go south you measure twice cut one. I see this daily. Often I know what is right to do but unless you can show the numbers and back it up you do not get into the room. Out growth as a company often exceeds 10% a year easily so who am I to say what they are doing is wrong?

FYI just find out what people owe on Credit cards and you will see how poorly many manage money. Much of this is due tot he instant gratifications of buying things. When I point the finger the thumb is pointing back at me too as I have it like most others. we all spoke at work once about how much people owed and it was amazing many could sleep as bankruptcy was not a possibility it was a future reality.

It is simple as we have been on this trend for a good while. Cars used to be a small part of your income and buying a new one was something a kid in High School could do on their own at one time. I could remember the neighbors, my parents and my buddys dad buying new cars every year. They would sell the used one for nearly what they paid or only come out a little less. When a new car was only $4000 or less it was easy to do. Today a car is at least a years pay of more for most people in the middle class. Then you have the poor decision factor as many people today handle money poorly. So many fail to have much in savings. Some it may be bad luck like health issues but most just spend it all and never stop till it is gone. We all have done it but maybe not to the same extreme. New I phone every year. Projection screen TV's and housed so large many can not afford to fill all the rooms with furniture. Today to make cars work well for most budgets you need to keep the car for about 8-10 years and just pay it off. Cars today easily last 12 years before rust of electronic failures are in play. You can go well over 100K miles with no sweat anymore with out any major failures or repairs. Yet we have people often trading 2-3 years and getting over their heads. I have several friends who have nearly gone bankrupt with good jobs just because they trade so often. One I kid because I told him he should get dealer plates as he had gone to the point he has traded up to 3 new cars in a year recently. Actually it was about 3 years ago he bought a Truck new, He found he did not want to pay the gas since he drives on a sales route. He went to a Cruze and his wife refused to ride in it because it was too small. Then he got a new Impala. That went away for a Honda with no explanation. That then vanished and not he has a Toyota truck. Oh Right before the Truck at the start was a Juke that he kept 3 months. Now he has not made a dime and took a bath on all these vehicles. He is not dumb and has a good job but he is to the point he had to sell his Corvette because he was so far under. Also while this went on they bought the wife a Ford SUV that vanished in months for a new Toyota SUV. Now I would like to say this is an isolated thing But I see similar things happen with others. They may not be to this extreme but enough to put them under. I have a guy at work who buys a car fixes it all up then trades it. So he takes a bath on the vehicle and all the parts. Recently it was a jeep with new wheels, a lift, fenders and other add ons. Now he is leasing a truck and bought a hard bed cover for it and he will not have this in 2 years as he never keeps anything that long. Some folks get bored with a vehicle and trade after only 2 years is what normally happens. But accidents and then a panic trade, Quality issues and then a trade to get rid of it. Buying too expensive then having to trade down because they can't afford etc. To be honest I would make a horrible salesman because I would try to talk people out of making mistakes that are plain as day. Cars are where poor decision are made daily that stick out. At work I see people daily spending money on cards they can not pay off. They will limit 3 cards to get what they want and have 3 screaming kid in the background. Note these are not things to fix anything these are play things they could easily live with out. Some times I will google where they live and it is sad. God knows there is a lot of things I would love to do and I at times may spend a little more than I should but the wife and I try to live with in our means and be happy with what we have. We keep our vehicles about 10 years - 100K miles and i keep them in top shape. We also buy the models that tend to be popular or hard to find and we often get good resale. Hell I have had people come from Florida to buy one of my cars in Ohio because it was in the best shape they could find one in. I have been lucky. As cars get more expensive people are just not going to be able to afford and that is why so many companies are buying into ride sharing companies. The addition of many of the new technologies coming are going to be obscene high and this will be the only way some will be able to afford them as pay will not increase along with the prices. Electric self driving cars are just not going to get much cheaper if anything they will continue to increase in price. Today the price of a new car stands at $35K when I bought my first new car back in 1985 the average price was what I paid $12,500. What is the next 30 years going to bring? The first thing we do need to teach is how to handle money to the young. Two teach them do not look to the government to pay for it all. If you want to get ahead in life you need to do it yourself not with hand outs. But as we progress I see people becoming more dependent as time goes on.

What you leave out is when they arrived cars were RWD and large and today they are small and unable to haul things. Hell i had an average size box I picked up at Fed Ex and it would not go into the large trunk because the opening was too small. The Demo changed because the market changed. People are wanting utility and they like the smaller models today. This opened the door to women who buy practical and now that they are smaller they are easier to drive. As for Lincoln they were doing well and when you were the only product in the market if there was any real demand they would have sucked it up. So they thought well we made it too car like with the carpet in the bed and panels that would dent. So they built the later model when trucks like the King Ranch were selling well. It lasted a year or so. I have seen very few. I laughed when I was at John Forces shop and he came in in one. He said it was just an over priced truck. Converting a Unibody SUV to a truck would still take some real investment unlike rebadging a GMC to a Denali. Well if you don't care then you should understand they may have a good handle on this and it is not a wise thing for them to do now. Calling them short sighted with out having any data to back it up sounds more like you care. Well if you had 4-5 billion to spend and you run a real risk of not making it back short therm would you be willing to put you butt on the line? This is no sure thing and in today's market there is little room for failures anymore. Development cost are much too high and with the market slowing down it would be foolish to take such a risk here in the states. To be honest there would be more market in the middle east but then with the conditions there one expansion of the fighting and you could lose that market over night. I have been dealing with people in Oman and it is not good over there.

The Blackwood was a Luxury truck that had very high grade appointments plush carpeted bed, aluminum trim and burl-wood. As for the MB we have no real concrete evidence of what it would have been here since it was never built. Volume of trucks do pay off the tooling and the many cost involved with different variations. They are the highest profit models out there accept for some high end luxury products. To develop this vehicle at Benz since they have nothing to base it off of would limit profits as most of the development money spent would have to be recouped over a smaller number of models. If they go global first and offer it as a work vehicle in other markets first then they can do other variations much more profitably. It is simple economics of scale. I agree the EXT was a badge job. It had nothing but some extra trim and extra options. But yet the sales and profits were still not enough to bring it back. I would have to assume since it it shared little with other models body wise it was not a cheap model to build. Just the converticab has to hold some major cost do to the number of parts needed to make it up. But with that said even with it being nearly as much SUV as truck it did not save it as people either got the truck or SUV more often than the hybrid. Don't get me wrong I liked the idea and thought it would have been better suited to the Trailblazer LWB. But there again like the GMC Envoy with the sliding top it was just too expensive and most people who wanted a truck just bought the truck. You can argue all you like but the fact is MB is not building it and odds are good it was due to the economics or limited nature of profits. Trust me if this were a sure gold mine do you really think they would have pulled out from doing it. Companies look at these things six ways to Sunday and if the numbers are not there they seldom take the big risk. If you still disagree you need to e mail Benz and tell them they don't know what they are doing. You may want to send along your studies so they can compare?

Apples to Oranges my friend. SUV and Crossover rules do not apply to trucks. The Demo for crossovers and SUV models is much broader than the Trucks. Considering half the market is also now made up of women they play a big factor in the purchase of SUV/Cross over models. Men on the other hand are still the majority of truck buyers. And with that same logic is why we can apply this to the Lincoln trucks and Cadillac semi truck and we know how that all played out.